Corporal Punishment - The Belt

[bob the tank]

What did he use to hold the nail?

I think the sight of a grown man grittedly belting his own hand a couple of times would be enough to scare me into silence...

Tap with a pin hammer to hold the nail in place first. He used to pickle his tawse in vinegar to stiffen it up, as well as being a javelin thrower in his younger days. Evil.....

[Estragon]

He used to pickle his tawse in vinegar to stiffen it up...

[Jambo'ness]

My woodwork teacher belted me and about eight others for planing 1mm too much off a stupid ornament we were each making. Bizarre!

Should have belted him for being a shite teacher1

[BFTD]

I wonder why some parents didn't go down and knock f**k out of some of these sadistic cowards for belting a kid.

Grooming, I'd guess. They picked the ones whose parents wouldn't care, or who'd be too scared to say anything.

[BFTD]

Can't find it now, but there was an article on the Beeb's website a few months ago about how the Victorians used to rationalise sadism directed at children by claiming that it aided learning. Apparently it used to be standard practice to administer a beating to a child after lessons, whether or not the child had misbehaved and regardless of performance. The pain helped solidify the lesson in the child's mind.

Surprised the PIE never tried trumpeting the value of buggery after classes TBH.

[Bold Rover]

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No harm?

Not how the post reads.

I was trying to be ironic, Tom.

[Tom McB]

I wonder why some parents didn't go down and knock f**k out of some of these sadistic cowards for belting a kid.

Do ye, aye?

[Tom McB]

I was trying to be ironic, Tom.

Ouch, sorry. We really need an ironic emoticon for old chaps like me.

[BFTD]

I started school right after punishment beatings were banned in schools, and it was painfully obvious which teachers had enjoyed a wee bit of the old ultra-violence back in the day. Nothing like watching a grown man massaging his ruler under a desk for comfort, or furiously adopting the overhand throw position with a blackboard eraser before sheepishly returning it to its wee shelf. You can only hope the education authority brought in counsellors for them.

[Tom McB]

The belt, no nostalgia for me. I still have my Lochgelly two prong extra heavy. Was bloody glad when the practice was stopped in 1984.

When I started teaching in 1977 I was determined not to use the b*****d thing. This lasted approximately one and a half terms. Some of the young gentlemen regarded teachers wh did not use the belt as softies, rationalising things, discussion etc would not bring them round. So I bought a belt, used it with them a couple of times, and henceforth hardly had to use the bugger.

It was an accepted part of the culture in schools at the time. This is not a defense of the practice but should explain why so many otherwise decent folk had a belt.

[th1stleandr0se]

The belt, no nostalgia for me. I still have my Lochgelly two prong extra heavy. Was bloody glad when the practice was stopped in 1984.

When I started teaching in 1977 I was determined not to use the b*****d thing. This lasted approximately one and a half terms. Some of the young gentlemen regarded teachers wh did not use the belt as softies, rationalising things, discussion etc would not bring them round. So I bought a belt, used it with them a couple of times, and henceforth hardly had to use the bugger.

It was an accepted part of the culture in schools at the time. This is not a defense of the practice but should explain why so many otherwise decent folk had a belt.

So, as a sensible poster who has actually wielded the belt, you could probably enlighten us as to a bit of the background to it. Did you give one, two or six or did it vary according to the offence or the student's previous record. Did you practice and what on? How much force did you put into it?

Was it a male-only punishment? I can't actually remember a girl being belted at my school but that's not to say it didn't happen. I know some teachers had a policy of giving lines to a girl while belting a boy who'd commited the same offence at the same time.

As the OP, I should know more about this but my wife said that although she had a Lochgelly, she didn't use it much as the practice was to send most miscreants to the male teacher next door.

[Hillonearth]

So, as a sensible poster who has actually wielded the belt, you could probably enlighten us as to a bit of the background to it. Did you give one, two or six or did it vary according to the offence or the student's previous record. Did you practice and what on? How much force did you put into it?

Was it a male-only punishment? I can't actually remember a girl being belted at my school but that's not to say it didn't happen. I know some teachers had a policy of giving lines to a girl while belting a boy who'd commited the same offence at the same time.

As the OP, I should know more about this but my wife said that although she had a Lochgelly, she didn't use it much as the practice was to send most miscreants to the male teacher next door.

It was a co-ed thing in my school, although in practice it was a bit of a rarity for girls to get it.

There was one occasion when somebody had done something – for the life of me I can’t remember what – and the whole class got it because we either didn’t know who had done it or wouldn’t own up.

Strange scene – tbh, most of the lassies got a wee love tap with the thing, but a lot of them were greeting their eyes out because they’d never got it before. More of a shock than anything I suppose.

[Tom McB]

So, as a sensible poster who has actually wielded the belt, you could probably enlighten us as to a bit of the background to it. Did you give one, two or six or did it vary according to the offence or the student's previous record. Did you practice and what on? How much force did you put into it?

Six? Dear God no. Never more than two if memory serves. Never used it that much, once it was know you had one and could use it it was rarely needed.

Practice? Nope, not a lot of force needed either if I can remember clearly more than thirty tears back.

Was it a male-only punishment? I can't actually remember a girl being belted at my school but that's not to say it didn't happen. I know some teachers had a policy of giving lines to a girl while belting a boy who'd commited the same offence at the same time.

Never belted a girl, two reasons:

1. It struck me as a bit dodgy to be honest.

2.Girls were always (at least in my memory) a civilised bunch compared to boys.

As the OP, I should know more about this but my wife said that although she had a Lochgelly, she didn't use it much as the practice was to send most miscreants to the male teacher next door.

That happened to me in abt 1966. Had done something wrong apparently in a science class and was sent to the husband of the teacher . He let me off, he was a sound fella.

[Tom McB]

There was one occasion when somebody had done something – for the life of me I can’t remember what – and the whole class got it because we either didn’t know who had done it or wouldn’t own up.

Strange scene – tbh, most of the lassies got a wee love tap with the thing, but a lot of them were greeting their eyes out because they’d never got it before. More of a shock than anything I suppose.

Happened to one of my registration classes, all belted. Went and had a "friendly word" with the person who did it. Never happened to the class again.

[BFTD]

The belt, no nostalgia for me. I still have my Lochgelly two prong extra heavy. Was bloody glad when the practice was stopped in 1984.

When I started teaching in 1977 I was determined not to use the b*****d thing. This lasted approximately one and a half terms. Some of the young gentlemen regarded teachers wh did not use the belt as softies, rationalising things, discussion etc would not bring them round. So I bought a belt, used it with them a couple of times, and henceforth hardly had to use the bugger.

It was an accepted part of the culture in schools at the time. This is not a defense of the practice but should explain why so many otherwise decent folk had a belt.

That all sounds understandable, and it'd be hard to deny that some kids will push authority figures into using the strictest measures available. Most of the anecdotes on here involve teachers for whom physical punishment was clearly a perk of the job, rather than a last resort. The authorities seem to do a better job of weeding these b*****ds out now. Hopefully.

My mother was a teacher of mentally and physically handicapped kids, long enough ago to remember when it wasn't necessary to have any qualifications or training to be appointed in the role. Abuse was rife, with brain-damaged incontinent children battered for soiling their nappies, and other such abominations. Even had a boss who tried to get her fired for refusing to beat the weans.

So...people are scumbags, is what I'm saying

[Jacksgranda]

Six? Dear God no. Never more than two if memory serves. Never used it that much, once it was know you had one and could use it it was rarely needed.

Practice? Nope, not a lot of force needed either if I can remember clearly more than thirty tears back.

Never belted a girl, two reasons:

1. It struck me as a bit dodgy to be honest.

2.Girls were always (at least in my memory) a civilised bunch compared to boys.

That happened to me in abt 1966. Had done something wrong apparently in a science class and was sent to the husband of the teacher . He let me off, he was a sound fella.

You didn't smack them too hard if they only had 30 tears...

Don't remember anybody getting the strap at the primary schools I attended, perhaps it happened behind the closed door of the headmaster's office, but one of myy primary school teachers had a massive ring on her finger and if you got a dig in the arm with that you knew all about it. She was also prone to giving out the odd slap round the ears.

The old chalk duster remover would get thrown about the room on occasion as well.

Secondary school all the teachers had a belt as far as I recall, but I don't remember it being produced that often. Knowing it was available for use kept us more or less in line.

[JogaBonito]

Ooft, some of these stories sound horrific. Hope no one here has used these methods on their own kids or partners - beating isn't the way to go.

[Jacksgranda]

That all sounds understandable, and it'd be hard to deny that some kids will push authority figures into using the strictest measures available. Most of the anecdotes on here involve teachers for whom physical punishment was clearly a perk of the job, rather than a last resort. The authorities seem to do a better job of weeding these b*****ds out now. Hopefully.

My mother was a teacher of mentally and physically handicapped kids, long enough ago to remember when it wasn't necessary to have any qualifications or training to be appointed in the role. Abuse was rife, with brain-damaged incontinent children battered for soiling their nappies, and other such abominations. Even had a boss who tried to get her fired for refusing to beat the weans.

So...people are scumbags, is what I'm saying

That's a total disgrace, but unfortunately probably still goes on.

[th1stleandr0se]

Nope, not a lot of force needed either if I can remember clearly more than thirty tears back.

Good to see you showing a bit of remorse.

On the treating girls differently tack, there seemed to be a policy at our school to call girls by their first name but boys by their surname, even in the same class. I have no idea why but it happened in several classes.

[Tom McB]

That all sounds understandable, and it'd be hard to deny that some kids will push authority figures into using the strictest measures available. Most of the anecdotes on here involve teachers for whom physical punishment was clearly a perk of the job, rather than a last resort. The authorities seem to do a better job of weeding these b*****ds out now. Hopefully.

Those who used it often were a mixture of incompetents and dodgy.

The standard of teachers coming in from college now is pretty damned good, in the early to mid seventies the School leaving age was raised, lots of teachers were needed and nobody was failed during teacher training.

My mother was a teacher of mentally and physically handicapped kids, long enough ago to remember when it wasn't necessary to have any qualifications or training to be appointed in the role. Abuse was rife, with brain-damaged incontinent children battered for soiling their nappies, and other such abominations. Even had a boss who tried to get her fired for refusing to beat the weans.

So...people are scumbags, is what I'm saying

Some indeed are, sadly.